Cecelia's POV
It was getting harder to breathe around him. In a way that felt… consuming. Like every time Marcus touched me, something inside me unraveled just a little, but not enough for me to understand what it is.
And tonight, I decided I wasn't going to stop trying to hold it together. I slipped out of bed and headed to Marcus' room… where I was now a free guest.
He was standing by the window when I pushed the door and entered… like he always did.
The night lights from outside seemed to reflect all sorts of shadows on his face, sharpening every edge of his god-like features.
"You shouldn't be here this late," he said without turning.
His voice was calm… as always.
But in the days I'd been here, I had learned the difference between control… and restraint.
"I couldn't sleep," I replied softly, closing the door behind me.
He exhaled slowly, like he already knew this wasn't just about sleep.
"Cecelia…"
"Don't," I cut in, my voice quieter than usual, but firmer. "Not tonight."
That made him turn… slowly.
His eyes locked onto mine instantly, something dark shifting beneath the surface.
His sharp gaze was questioning, dangerous even. And my heart pounded hard in my chest, but I didn't look away.
Instead, I stepped closer. Slowly and deliberately. I didn't know where my courage came from… maybe it was the way he looked at me every night struggling to hold himself back… maybe it was the way this place kept trying to make me feel small.
Perhaps… it was that I was just tired of being the only one pretending. But I moved like I really wanted this.
"You keep stopping," I said when I stopped just inches below his face, "Every time."
His jaw tightened.
"For a reason." He answered almost coldly.
"What reason?" I challenged softly as my hand rose towards his face. "Because you think I can't handle it? Or because you can't?"
That seemed to do it.
I saw the shift in his face. And at first I thought it was the crack in his control that I need to exploit. But his resolve suddenly returned like it had never left.
"Careful," he warned, his voice dropping lower. "You don't know what you're asking for."
"Then show me."
The words left my lips before I could take them back, and silence fell between us. Heavy and filled with sexual tension.
And then… before any of us thought further about it, I rose on my toes and closed the vertical distance between us, my lips locking with his as my hands steadied against his chest.
I kissed him, letting myself feel him… his strength, the tension he carried like a second skin. But then he pulled away suddenly.
"Marcus…" I whispered.
Something in his expression snapped. Not violently. But frustratingly. His hand caught my wrist to stop me, to make me feel the shift in power, in control… in everything.
"You should walk away," he said, his voice rough now, strained in a way I had never heard before.
I shook my head.
"No."
That single word sealed it. Because the moment he realized I wasn't going to stop, he quit holding back.
The air suddenly changed as his hand moved from my wrist to my waist, pulling me closer in one quick motion that stole the breath from my lungs.
The distance between us now vanished completely, replaced by pure heat and sexual tension.
And this time… Marcus didn't hesitate. The kiss wasn't gentle or careful. It was everything he had been holding back… intense, consuming, leaving no room for doubt or second thoughts.
It sent a rush through me so sharp it made my knees weaken, my fingers instinctively gripping onto him like I needed him to stay put.
And he did, and didn't let go this time. Not for a second. Everything after blurred into an unforgettable sensation… his powerful presence overwhelming my tender one.
His control was finally gone, replaced by something deeper, something that matched the fire building inside me.
After he took me for the first time since I walked into his home, I wanted every second of the experience. Something that suggested to me that everything had just changed
And there was no going back.
***
It started the next morning.
At first, I thought it was just exhaustion. My body felt heavier than usual, like I hadn't rested at all despite the few hours of sleep I managed to get.
Every movement of mine seemed slower, every breath slightly deeper, like something inside me had shifted overnight… after our steamy encounter.
I sat up slowly, pressing a hand to my temple.
"Get it together," I muttered under my breath.
But then I heard it… footsteps. It was soft and distant. Too distant for my ears to be able to catch.
My head snapped toward the door to my bedroom, my pulse quickening. There was no one there.
Yet I could still hear it… continuous, like someone walking down the far end of the hallway. That wasn't possible.
This room was isolated. Sound didn't travel like that here. I swallowed hard, my fingers tightening against the sheets.
"It's just your imagination, Cecelia," I whispered to myself.
But it didn't feel like it.
By the time I got out of the room, everything felt… sharper, louder and brighter.
I stepped into the corridor, only to flinch at the sudden wave of noise that hit me… voices, footsteps, even the faint hum of electricity in the walls I barely noticed before felt disturbing now.
Even things I had never noticed before now jammed into my senses all at once, overwhelming and suffocating.
I pressed a hand against the wall, steadying myself.
"Cecelia?"
I looked up and River was standing there. Of course it would be him who noticed.
"I'm fine," I said quickly.
His eyes narrowed slightly, unconvinced. "You don't look fine."
"I just didn't sleep well," I added, brushing it off.
He didn't move or press forward.
"If something's wrong," he said quietly, "you should tell Marcus."
My chest tightened instantly at the mention of his name.
"No," I said too quickly.
River's gaze sharpened.
"I mean… it's nothing," I corrected, forcing a small smile. "Really."
He held my gaze for a moment longer, like he was trying to read something beneath the surface.
Then he nodded once. But I could tell that didn't believe me.
That afternoon, I had a weird dream taking a nap… a nap I was forced to take by my suddenly overwhelming senses.
No, it wasn't a dream, it felt like something else...
I was running. Fast. Faster than I had ever moved in my life, the wind tearing past me, the ground blurring beneath my feet.
Trees surrounded me, tall, stretching like they were alive. The forest felt real and alive.
As I ran, I could hear everything… the rustling leaves, the distant snap of branches, the steady rhythm of something chasing… or maybe trying to escape me.
My heart pounded in my chest, but I didn't feel afraid. I felt… free. Wildly free. Then pain hit me suddenly, waking me up from the nap.
I felt the pains not sharply, but mildly disturbing in my bones and through my body. I pulled a breath in my throat as I squeezed my into the bed.
It felt like something inside me was trying to break free. My bones burned within, my skin felt too tight.
"Stop…" I gasped, curling further into myself. "Make it stop…"
But it didn't.
Instead, the pain only deepened as the sun descended into evening, giving way to the full light of the moon rising bright and alive in the sky.
Something was terribly wrong obviously. But I couldn't think of what it was, and that on it's own was another kind of pain.